The Work in Sports Podcast - Insider Advice for Sports Careers

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Chasity Melvin: Phoenix Mercury Assistant Coach – Work In Sports Podcast Sep 30, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. And let’s be honest, voting during a pandemic is a little confusing right now. There is so much misinformation out there aimed toward making you believe your vote doesn’t matter Well, your vote does matter. Voting is the most important responsibility of citizens. Don’t give up that power or that right! Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. You know who is engaged, informed and ready to vote with EMPOWRD - Trey Flowers, Detroit Lions Whitney Mercilus, Houston Texans Justin Reid, Houston Texans Anfernee Simons, Portland Trailblazers All of these top athletes are out there supporting this great app that will make it easier for you to get all the information you need to vote! Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com Alright - let’s start the countdown… Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast. There are many attributes and traits that intrigue me about professional athletes. Throughout my career in the sports media I’ve often found myself interviewing pro athletes and thinking to myself, what makes them different? I worked hand in hand with NFL MVP Shaun Alexander for a few years and kept asking him questions, probing at his background his development as an athlete, his experience being the absolute best every phase of his life… I asked so many questions I think he got annoyed with me No that’s not true, Shaun is one of the kindest, most gracious athletes you could ever encounter. You see, I’m one of those people that looks for patterns. Is it where they grew up? how early they started training? Is it a passion that is born within that can’t be controlled only fostered? Is it purely size and speed? Game intelligence and instincts? I’d ask Shaun specific questions like, how did you know to cut that direction on a play -- that didn’t look like it was open at all?! and he’d go into a complex discussion of the blocking scheme, but eventually admit, instincts take over. So is that it? Is it born from within? This would go round and round and round and round. Finally one day, two years into our friendship - he gave me the answer. As he would explain it -- The baseline qualification is that you have the elite athletic combination - fast, strong, size, weight...that gets you to college. It doesn’t get you beyond that. To get to the pro’s and potentially elite level, long, award-winning, triumphant career, requires elite competitiveness. The belief that you need to outwork, outsmart, and out manuever everyone else. That when you line up to play, you raise your ability to an entirely new level. That when your season is done, all you can think about is how you will improve for the next turn. This style of competitiveness cozy’s up, very close, to obsession. Nothing else matters but competing. This is also why so many elite players struggle with mental health issues during their playing days -- not being quite elite enough, not handling the pressure well enough, not having enough outlets for their anguish. Imagine being this hardwired to compete on everything, and then having a day where your body just can’t do it anymore. In 2005 Shaun ran for 1880 yards and 27 touchdowns - he won the league MVP award. In 2008, just three years later he carried that ball 11 times for the Washington Football Team and was released. He was 31 years old. What do you do with all that competitiveness when your body just can’t do it anymore? How do you transition to a different life and world. The world literally sees you different. YOu couldn’t walk down the street without being mobbed before, now you walk down the street and people wonder quietly...is that...nah, can’t be. This mental adjustment, this transition, is just another obstacle in the journey of being ...

Why Bother With Networking? Work In Sports Podcast Sep 28, 2020

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The Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD This is the most important election of our time. And let’s be honest, voting during a pandemic is a little confusing right now. There is so much misinformation out there aimed toward making you believe your vote doesn’t matter - so why bother. Well, your vote does matter. Voting is the most important responsibility of citizens. Don’t give up that power or that right! Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. You know who is engaged, informed and ready to vote with EMPOWRD - Trey Flowers, Detroit Lions Whitney Mercilus, Houston Texans Justin Reid, Houston Texans Anfernee Simons, Portland Trailblazers All of these top athletes are out there supporting this great app that will make it easier for you to get all the information you need to vote! Download the app today at EMPOWRD.com Alright let’s start the countdown… Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… New feature -- big hit. Got a lot of positive feedback on our new segment -- so let’s jump right into...The Stat Line Alright quick recap of the week that was in the world of sports employment - through the lens of WorkInSports.com the number one job board for the sports industry… Three main data points and trends to keep you informed … we start with the top line number. There are currently 15,556 active sports jobs posted on WorkinSports.com -- that is a good healthy number. Now, this is down 1.3% week over week. But as is always the case data needs context. In the last week we added 3,302 new active sports jobs - and average of 471 new jobs per day and an increase of 27% week over week. So you may be asking -- how can you add 3,302 jobs this week and have less overall jobs? Well, that’s actually another really good indicator for the state of our industry. What this means is, there was a churn -- many jobs were filled, many new jobs added -- positive activity level. OK, final part of the stat line, three awesome jobs added this week: This part is subjective. Communication and Digital Media Internship with USA Team Handball -- look I don’t know anything about handball, other than I think I would be awesome at it -- but the opportunity to learn this skills for a national governing body is the type of thing that will sand out on your resume. Play-by-Play broadcaster for the San Diego Seals -- who are the San Diego Seals? They are a National Lacrosse League team in San Diego, I like San Diego. The only problem I have is that in San Diego, nothing should be indoors. Seriously, everything from showering to sports should be required to be outdoors in San Diego. And finally -- I have been in the sports industry for 20+ years and I still am introduced to new jobs and companies every damn day. Our final job comes from BallerTV who I heard of for the first time this morning. Based in Miami they are looking for a Live Sports Event Coordinator -- Baller TV according to my research, is a venture-backed startup that is building the world's largest sports network from the ground up. And that was the Stat Line! Do you like that segment? Any other stats you want me to add? Message me on LinkedIN, or join our private facebook group by searching for the Work In Sports podcast on Facebook. And, remember, a Work In Sports membership is just $8 for the first month. You can get access to all of these jobs and way, way, way, way, way, way more. Alright, let’s get to today’s fan question from Wyatt in Pennsylvania... “Hey Brian, I need a little convincing on the power of networking. I’m not a natural networker, I don’t really like it and I’m not fully convinced it matters in the long run. Can you help convince me that it is an effort worth undertaking?”Wyatt in Pennsylvania Good questions Wyatt -- thanks for asking.

Chris Grosse, Penn State Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing – Work In Sports Podcast Sep 23, 2020

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The Work In Sports podcast is brought to you by EMPOWRD! NFL superstar Trey Flowers, ESPN anchor Maria Taylor and many others are encouraging you to get registered to vote with EMPOWRD! Empowrd is a technology platform created by former Oracle Tech executive Horace Williams to simplify civic engagement and put democracy in the palm of your hand. With EMPOWRD you can: Confirm your voter registration status, Link to register to vote in your state, Identifying your voting location (plus notification of any last-minute changes to help combat voter suppression), Preview your election ballot before election day and Ability to check-in on Election Day and most importantly, report any voting issues at the poll site. This is the most important election of our time. Get engaged, informed & ready to vote - all with ONE app. Download today at EMPOWRD.com. Alright let’s start the countdown... Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of content and engaged learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… Big ten football back in October -- look, this is great news all around, as a die-hard sports fan this is what we want to see. If the league commissioner caved to the pressure, thats not good, but if they did their work, consulted with scientists, public health officials and creatd systems to keep the athletes and staff safe and sounds… well, right now. I don’t know about you, but I’ve actually found the NBA and NFL experience without fans, a great experience. The NBA, I don’t even really notice the lack of fans anymore…The NFL is still a little weird, with the huge empty stadiums, but I’m getting used to it. Baseball… ugh, but maybe I’m tainted by my Red Sox being awful. But there is something magical about college sports. I’ll be the first to admit, growing up in the Boston area, there isn’t a huge college sports component, it’s all pro sports. I always thought of college sports as the minor leagues to the pros, and therefore less important. In my world view the pro game was the pinnacle and everything else was just a pathway. But really, this is the wrong lens to look through. This perspective changed for me, when I was in my late 20’s. I travelled to England to watch a few premier league soccer games -- I saw a game at Arsenal, and another at Chelsea - and these were experiences I had never had in sports. The fans were different, the stadium experience was different, the vibe was different. I remembered returning, and going back to work, which was at CNN/Sports Illustrated at the time and telling anyone who would listen.. Oh my gosh, I feel like a different sports fan with different expectations. One of my co-workers said to me… have you ever been to a football game at UGA? Well, no. Another -- have you been to a game at Tennessee? (this is when Peyton was huge) And then my boss, a Michigan grad, said ..dude “what about the Big house?” you been? It wasn’t until I started experiencing these college sports cathedrals that I realized mine was the skewed perspective. That the real passion and enthusiasm and maniacal fandom was in college sports. That booming of 106,000 people on a saturday in the fall chanting so loud your chest felt like it was compressing. And it’s not just football… Most of the athletes in college aren’t on the professional athlete path, they play water polo and volleyball and tennis for the pure love of the game and competition. That’s the magic you want from sports. And as my journey has continued, as I’ve interviewed associate athletic directors from Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan… you realize how much goes into operating a department representing sometimes 30+ teams, not just one. The effort and coordination it takes to maximize the experience of thousands of student athletes across a department...and to draw fans not just to football saturdays, but mid-week soccer games, and track and field and baseball.

A Process for Effective Decision Making – Work In Sports Podcast Sep 21, 2020

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Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… In case you weren’t sure...2020 is still a massive kick to the you know whats. Rest in Power Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of equality for all people, and the rule of law. For everyone dealing with wildfires, hurricanes, and our global pandemic, please stay safe - this is a time for diligence, not complacency. I know we all want to get back to normal, but right now that just isn’t our reality...so be safe and be smart, care for your fellow citizens. Before we get started with today’s question -- we have a new segment -- I like to call it The Stat Line I get asked just about every day about the state of the sports industry --- so we’re going to give you a quick update each week based on our data at WorkInSports.com - in case you didn’t know, we’re the leading job board in the sports industry and have been for a little over 20 years. The Stat Line will consist of at least three valuable data points for you -- How many jobs are currently in our database. Whether that is an increase or decrease over the previous week, and month. Top categories for job postings, and highlight three jobs currently active on our site that I think are interesting. So let’s start with the top line number -- 15,763 active jobs right now on our site. That’s a good number -- lots of opportunities -- but let’s get a little nuanced. It’s important to see the trends… in the last week we have added 2,392 sports jobs...the week prior we added 1,842 --- now that’s a short term trend, but it’s good news. As for categories -- where is the growth? 2,343 jobs in media/creative -- remember eleven without fans, teams leagues and organizations are still creating content for their digital and social platforms. Over 6,000 active opportunities in retail/lifestyle - many of these are far more working the register at Dick’s Sporting Goods -- no offense, Dick’s, we love you, in fact, if you want to sponsor this podcast… call me. Many of the jobs in retail and lifestyle apply to huge brands like Puma, Adidas, Nike, Under Armour, these brands are thriving right now and they are HUGE businesses. As for my three favorite jobs of the week -- Zamboni Operator which is about 30 minutes from my house. Back up plan. Happy Gilmore. Assistant General Manager for a summer collegiate wood bat league which just sounds awesome. And the director of video content for the Tennessee Titans -- I mean I’d be drooling all day making videos of Derrick Henry stiff arms, and I’d get to work with former guest Amie Wells -- so that would be fun, Alright -- that is the stat line! If you have data you want me to share on a regular basis -- let me know… I want to help you all be smarter about your job search! And I’ll get through it a little faster in the future, this was a set the stage episode. Ok onto today’s topic! Sometimes as I prep this show and go through the myriad of questions we receive each week -- rather than handle a specific question, I notice a theme which we can dive into. Again, if you want to submit a question for our Work In Sports podcast Monday episode - you can email me, bclapp@workinsports.com, you can ask me via LinkedIn, you can ask me as part of our private Facebook group - of course, you’d have to join it first… but that’s easy search for the Work in Sports podcast on Facebook and answer a few questions, then I’ll let you in, then you can ask your question. It’s an incredible group for networking with other sports career-minded people, so jump in. So the pattern. Many many questions have come in lately with topics like “I can’t decide what sports career I want… “I can’t decide which role to take…. “I can’t decide what to include on my resume… “I can’t decide what to wear for my interview…”

Kara Walker, Boston Celtics VP of Marketing & Content Strategy – Work in Sports Podcast Sep 16, 2020

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Hey everybody I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast. In 2007 today’s guest, Kara Walker, graduated from Ithaca College. The Massachusetts native began her career in Ticket Operations with the Boston Celtics. Today she is the VP of Marketing and Content Strategy with the Boston Celtics. I’m not just reading her resume, there is a very clear point, or at least it should be. Kara started in sales but today she is a VP in a much different part of the organization. I mention sales jobs and customer service roles to people who want to work in sports and I watch their face change. It’s a reflexive reaction that borders between disgust and annoyance. It’s like they think I’m insulting them by saying they should look into sales roles, rather than be named the GM of their favorite team right out of college. I get it. Everyone has big dreams and those dreams don’t include cold calling people for season tickets, or convincing a church group to buy 30 tickets to the Sacramento Kings game in November. I speak in college classrooms all the time and I’d guess about 25% of the people want to be sports agents. Ask them why and they’ll say they want to be close to the players and it looks like fun. Good luck. You think it’s glamourous, it is not. There are around 830 agents certified by the NFL Players Association and 1,590 active players on 53 man rosters. Not great odds…but now go even further 75% of the players are represented by just 17% of the agents. A half dozen or so super agents handle all the big players and the big deals. The other 824 agents scrap for what is left. When NFL rosters go down to 53 people at the end of training camp as many as 300 agents have no active clients at all. Now, let’s compare that to jobs in sports sales. For the last 20 years of WorkInSports.com -- that’s right, we’re in our second decade of sports industry domination now, sales jobs have made up about 50% of the jobs on our job board. Now, I’ll be transparent -- things are a topsy turvy right now in the sports industry. The whole global pandemic, no fans, no tickets has put a damper on jobs in sales. I’m not being flip, near 200,000 americans have died in this pandemic and we all think about them daily, maybe not specifically, but we think about this terrible situation daily. Sals jobs are lower on our job board than ever before -- but let’s have some perspctivce. Sales equates to revenue. Revenue is the #1 goal of any business. Sales jobs will return in full force. Matter of fact, they’ll return in greater numbers than ever before as sports teams get back to normal and the need to make up for lost revenue is present. In the long game of life -- the number of sales jobs and opportunities will be in your favor. But, I get it – you aren’t convinced – you’ve been told all your life to do what will make you happy, and sales isn’t it. I’m with you, I have never worked in sales, I haven’t even been a waiter at a restaurant trying to sell someone a steak dinner, and I turned out OK. But, I’m not giving up on this. You need to see the truth. Sales isn’t a life sentence, it’s a step inside the building of an organization. Kara Walker started in Ticket Operations with the BOSTON CELTICS, one of the most storied franchises in sports. She gave herself an opportunity to prove herself, learn the business, connect herself with revenue generation, build her reputation and grow from within a premium organization. In two years’ time she was changing departments into content and marketing – she shifted her entire career, but stayed with her top organization where she wanted to be. I can go on and on about following the path of opportunity and least resistance but you need to believe it and buy into it. Now, I have to admit three things before we get into this interview,

The Traits You Need For Sports Industry Success – Work In Sports Podcast Sep 14, 2020

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Hey everybody I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… Alright, this is the first time I’m speaking about this publicly, I have some big news about the podcast. Something exciting and important. Over the last decade, we’ve all watched at sports figures have opened up to the world. Whether via Players Tribune, their own social accounts, their voice in press conferences, what they wear, and how they display their world views - we have gotten to know athletes better. As I have said many times prior -- In my era, we never really knew how guys like Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Rickey Henderson felt about the world. We knew how they played, and how they acted as teammates...and that was about it. Back in June when George Floyd was murdered and peaceful protests took over the streets of our nation... they also took over the arenas. Athletes used their voice, sports became a greater vehicle and platform for social justice and expression. I for one love this. I hate the “shut up and dribble” as if athletes were placed her to sing and dance and run for us… just to entertain. These are human beings with important views and global impact. At the same time as George Floyd, a group of diverse young professionals also stood out from the rest of the crowd. The 2020 cohort of the Minor League Baseball FIELD program, which stands for 'Fostering Inclusion through Education and Leadership Development' spoke up, loud and clear, when Minor League baseball was silent. At the time I was impressed with their unity, fearlessness, and voice. I only wish I had this strength at their age. I began connecting with each and every member of the cohort, offering to help them with their careers and network. And one young woman, Adrienne Brown, took it one step further. She asked is we could do a series of podcasts with the FIELD cohort to discuss being young and diverse while trying to work and make a name for yourself in the sports industry. Enthusiastically I said yes. In the month of October, we will debut our 4-part series titled Moving Forward and featuring young diverse professionals speaking their truth and sharing their experiences. We just conducted our first interview sessions last week, and I couldn’t have been more impressed with our first two guests -- Jalen Mitchell an incredibly impressive student at Howard University and Gerald Taylor, a recent graduate of Virginia State who is trying to stand out in the world of diversity and inclusion. The conversations are eye-opening, and important. Please listen with an open heart and mind. Ok, on to today’s question… Keisha from Chicago… “Hi Brian, I’ve heard you recently in two different zoom sessions and I was captivated by your talks -- you have a very engaging demeanor and speak with so much passion! I have a follow-up question if you don’t mind answering it. You talked about the most important traits you need for the sports industry - being competitive, coachable, and curious. I wrote them down to keep me inspired. But I have a question… is being competitive just another way of saying work hard?” Keisha -- I am so excited by this question. You submitted it via LinkedIn and many times I just respond personally to questions but this one I really really wanted to elevate to the Monday podcast. So here goes…. NO working hard is not the same as being competitive. I’ll explain, but let me run through all the traits first just to get everyone else up to speed, then we’ll dive into the difference between being competitive and working hard. It’s true - I try to get these attributes or traits across in just about every presentation because I believe they are vital. Let’s start with Coachable. I always look for new ways to articulate and back up my theories, and just this weekend I saw “Coachable” in action...so let’s talk about it.

Andres Cantor: Legendary Telemundo Deportes Broadcaster – Work In Sports Podcast Sep 09, 2020

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Calling all up-and-coming broadcast talent – here’s your chance to make a name for yourself overnight. Compete against others in SiriusXM’s “MLB Fan Call of the Month” contest. Visit SiriusXM dot com slash MLB Fan Call, and make your voice heard before the contest closes on September 10th at 10AM Eastern. One winner, as judged by the SiriusXM programming team, will have their play-by-play call air on SiriusXM MLB Radio, and advance to compete in the final “Fan Call of the Year” contest for a grand prize that includes a trip for two (2) to attend the 2021 MLB All Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, plus the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to call a half-inning of the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, LIVE on SiriusXM MLB Radio! Go to SiriusXM dot com slash MLB Fan Call for a full set of contest rules, prizing details and more. Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… Buenos Aires, the Paris of the South, known for its architecture, cuisine, shopping, history, entertainment, beaches -- one of the top travel destinations in the world. But in the 1970’s Buenos Aires was in the midst of the Dirty War, a period when Argentina’s military dictatorship turned against its own people. Quick trip down history lane -- it was 1976 when the Argentine military overthrew the government of Isabel Peron, the widow of populist president Juan Peron. It was a political coup called Operation Condor and it was sponsored and supported by the United States. The military took power by force, and turned against Argentina’s citizens, taking away political dissidents and people it suspected of being aligned with leftist, socialist or social justice causes and incarcerating, torturing, and “disappearing” an estimated 30,000 people. Still to this day, every Thursday, the mothers and grandmothers of the 30,000 unaccounted for victims of the Dirty War, gather in one of Argentina’s most famous public squares, the Plaza De Mayo, wearing white scarves and holding signs covered with names. Why am I bringing all fo this up? Why the trip down Argentinian history? Today’s guest is one of the most famous sports broadcasters in the world, Andres Cantor, known around the globe for his legendary play by play call when a goal is scored in soccer. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL! I can’t do it, nor will I try. But to really understand a person, you have to know where they came from. When I was given the opportunity to interview Andres, a man I have long admired for his artful, entertaining work in soccer, the Olympics, and as a leader in the Spanish-speaking community - I wanted to understand the man behind the call, not just the call itself. Andres grew up in Argentina, in Buenos Aires, during the Dirty War, when the military took to the streets and people he knew disappeared. His family fled the country, and came to America, where he had to completely restart his life. I strongly believe we are formed by our early years, they become our foundation for what we believe is true, valued and important - our early experiences shape the way we see the world. Not put yourself in Andres shoes. War-torn country, on his doorstep, in his vision every single day. Fleeing the country, starting over, new people, a new language, new culture, new everything. He had ever reason to make excuses, to blame the world for its injustices, to crumble in the face of the challenges ahead of him. But he didn’t. He became a legend. This year Andres celebrated his 20th year at Telemundo, and I had the honor of interviewing him on his illustrious career. One note before we get started -- 5 minutes before we started our interview, Andres’ phone started blowing up because Lionel Messi announced he wanted to leave Barcelona. He has sincere retracted, but in that moment,

Andrew Diamond: SiriusXM Manager, Sports Partnerships and Marketing – Work In Sports Podcast Sep 02, 2020

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Calling all up-and-coming broadcast talent – here’s your chance to make a name for yourself overnight. Compete against others in SiriusXM’s “MLB Fan Call of the Month” contest starting on Thursday, September 3rd at 10AM Eastern. Visit SiriusXM dot com slash MLB Fan Call, and make your voice heard before the contest closes on September 10th. One winner, as judged by the SiriusXM programming team, will have their play-by-play call air on SiriusXM MLB Radio, and advance to compete in the final “Fan Call of the Year” contest for a grand prize that includes a trip for two (2) to attend the 2021 MLB All Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, plus the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to call a half-inning of the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, LIVE on SiriusXM MLB Radio! Go to SiriusXM dot com slash MLB Fan Call for a full set of contest rules, prizing details and more. Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast. I have an ongoing internal dialogue - no I’m not talking to myself, I’m not that old or senile yet - no, I’m constantly asking myself “what else?” This has become a little bit of a joke between my wife and I, she was on a job interview once years ago, and the interviewer started with a broad question about the role, and then for the next 30 minutes just kept repeating “what else?” every time my wife paused. While I think this is a terrible interview technique -- it is a pretty good question to ask yourself about yourself. I do this often and in many ways. With my kids, I wonder - again in my head -- what else can I be doing to help them become good people? What else can I teach them that school may not? Maybe it’s life skills, maybe it’s about the history of racial oppression, maybe it’s about climate change and sustainability? I wonder “what else?” can I do to be a better husband, mentor, friend, volunteer, member of society -- the list goes on. What else? I have an industry friend who always talks about the extra 1% you can do -- similar concept - he’s always telling people it doesn’t have to be huge, it just needs to be 1% better than everyone else...and this is just another way to get into a positive mindframe of doing a little more. I’m not perfect at it, sometimes I ask myself “what else” - come up with a good idea for something more I can do, and then cease to actually do it. Turns out, you make less of an impact when you don’t actually do the stuff you think about doing. Who knew? Anyway, the reason I bring this up is not out of self-importance or even a desire to be transparent… it’s because my mind has been raging lately about the podcast, this here show. What else? I feel like I should be doing more, that the traditional industry expert interview style is good and I enjoy it thoroughly, but maybe we need to break through and push a little more. I don’t know, I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I feel there are some more creative approaches I am yet to unlock but will continue to work on. With that in mind, I am taking a bit of a different approach to today’s show… a little shift that i think is pretty cool. Today’s guest is Andrew Diamond, Manager of Sports Sponsorships and Marketing for SiriusXM - cool job right? Andrew has also worked for Octagon, FanDuel, Topps and more - he’s a pretty interesting dude. If you were listening at the top of the show, SiriusXM is running a really cool contest called “Fan Call of the Month” with a chance to win a trip for 2 to the MLB all-star game and a chance to do play-by-play for a half inning of the sirius xm broadcast of the All-Star futures game! Pretty cool contest right? So what we are going to do today is tell the story of Andrew’s job, through the lens of this particular project -- how the Fan Call of the Month, went from idea, to activated project rolled out narttionwide.

Where is the Sports Industry Headed? – Work In Sports Podcast Aug 31, 2020

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Where is the Sports Industry Going?! Calling all up-and-coming broadcast talent – here’s your chance to make a name for yourself overnight. Compete against others in SiriusXM’s “MLB Fan Call of the Month” contest starting on Thursday, September 3rd at 10 AM Eastern. Visit SiriusXM dot com slash MLB Fan Call, and make your voice heard before the contest closes on September 10th. One winner, as judged by the SiriusXM programming team, will have their play-by-play call air on SiriusXM MLB Radio, and advance to compete in the final “Fan Call of the Year” contest for a grand prize that includes a trip for two (2) to attend the 2021 MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, plus the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to call a half-inning of the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, LIVE on SiriusXM MLB Radio! Go to SiriusXM dot com slash MLB Fan Call for a full set of contest rules, prizing details, and more. Alright, let’s start the countdown… Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInsports.com and this is the work in sports podcast… Cool note to add to our new sponsor, SiriusXM, coming up on Wednesday we’re going to have on SiriusXM Manager of Sports Partnerships and Marketing Andrew Diamond -- I thought it would be super cool to change our normal format and do a little something different. Andrew is going to take us through his job and his role at SiriusXM in sports partnerships, through the lens of the “Fan Call of the Year” contest -- from concept brainstorming to organizing the teams necessary to make the concept real, to meeting with stakeholders, promoting and activating -- you’ll get an idea of what it’s really like to work in marketing, by seeing how an idea turns into reality. I’m excited about this, because I love the idea of learning about the role through the actual process of creating a sports partnership! Of course I love the idea… it was my idea! Tune in Wednesday for that -- and seriously, if I was even slightly interested in sports broadcasting, or just wanted to have some fun, I would be all over this “fan call of the year” contest -- you could call a half-inning of the futures game on SiriusXM MLB radio and get a trip to the all-star game in Atlanta? Super cool. Alright on to today’s topic. Actually quick recap -- last weeks episode we talked about cancel vs. consequence culture -- and again we used misogyny in the sports industry as the launching point for the discussion… If you haven’t listened to the episode you should, it’s raw and it’s honest, but I also want to follow up on two things: 1: For those of you that requested I stick to sports and stop having conversations about topics like this -- stop it. You are embarrassing yourself. Don’t listen if you don’t want to be challenged, and if you truly think subjects like misogyny and social justice don’t intersect with sports and our day to day existence -- wake up. Every sports league, team, lifestyle brand, agency and organization connected to sports is taking on these issues because they are important, and they affect all of us. 2: I did get called out for one thing, and I’d like to say thank you for it. Kae Dube, rightfully pointed out that not all women have 2 X chromosomes. And she is right, she knows I didn’t say it in a derogatory way so we are cool, but I should not have been as verbally clever as I was being, I should have been more clear. Let that be a warning to all of you, sometimes leave the creative writing at home and just b clear with what you are trying to say. Alright -- now let’s get into today’s subject… Alisha from Pennsylvania writes in -- “Hey Brian, long time listener of the podcast and I’ve heard you speak a few times in different panels -- your enthusiasm and energy for this industry is just awesome, thank you. Question for you -- with the world being turned upside down with coronavirus and the sports industry being dif...

Shahbaz Khan: Minnesota Timberwolves Director of Digital Content – Work In Sports Podcast Aug 26, 2020

Show notes

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… I know this may sound trite, but I learn something from every interview I conduct on this show. It’s true - when you keep yourself open to learning and open to your own need for improvement, you start to see the opportunity in everything. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, but today’s guest Shahbaz Khan director of digital content for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, really woke me up during this interview with his ideas. Now, full disclosure -- if someone asked me what my dream job would be right now, it would be leading a digital content group for a pro sports team -- so Shahbaz had me piqued from the get-go. One thing I always listen for in all of my interviews is HOW someone got the gig they currently occupy, or frankly any of their jobs. Did they find out about the job on our site WorkInSports.com -- like Dan Kaufmann from the New York Jets? Did they get it by referral and networking like Hannah Huesman from the Philadelphia Phillies? How did they get where they are? Well, Shahbaz shares a story, coming up shortly, about how he got his job with the Twolves that I have now cited in multiple speaking engagements that I have been a part of -- it’s a zoom world, and I’ve been doing a lot of career-focused panels. I’ll summarize quickly, and then you can listen to him share the details. But essentially he wanted to work for the Twolves as a social media associate, and he figured out a way to make himself come to life. He started a new twitter account and started doing the job. Seriously. He started doing the job of a social media associate for the Twolves. He was able to then show the Twolves how he would operate in the position -- his tone, his creativity, he created his own proof of concept. This is what we mean by -- what else can you do to stand out? He could have submitted his resume and waited - but he went the extra 10%. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again -- it takes a lot of faith to hire someone, you are banking on their words and the paper they hand you celebrating themselves. You interview them, and you hear theem sell themselves… but you never really know how they will operate until you get them in your building...and that is daunting. I have hired people before that were incredible in the interview process, their references were good, their resume was tight -- and then in the job itself they failed. What Shahbaz did was genius, because it overcame the fear employers have of hiring someone who can’t really perform when the red light goes on. If you can figure out this magic for yourself, if you can figure out how to show proof of concept, and show you can do the job and help quell any fears an employer may have on making you their next hire -- that is magic. And Shahbaz caputed that in his process. I’m telling you -- there is a lot more than just this story coming up, Shahbaz shares great stuff on creating digital content during this interview, so I’ll shut up and let you listen… here he is Shahbaz Khan, Director of Digital Content for the Timberwolves and Lynx. Questions for Shahbaz Khan, Minnesota Timberwolves Director of Digital Content 1: I love getting into my guest’s background and seeing something that jumps out – for you this is clear: you started college studying electronics engineering! Quite the departure from sports social media content. What was your plan early on, and how did you eventually change to a sports focused career? 2: You joined the Timberwolves/Lynx in May 2014 as a social media associate – what do you remember most about that first interview process with the Timberwolves? 3: You jump right into working with an NBA and WNBA team on their social channels – obviously they aren’t going to hand over the strategy and execution on day one – what did your role look like in t...

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